Check out Kiss the Ground website, where you will find other ways to be involved and even learn how to Become a Soil Advocate! These are more expensive, so if you can only afford to go organic with some, choose the Dirty dozen so that you get the health benefits of avoiding all the chemicals too The Dirty Dozen organic.org. There is too much in the air now and too little in the earth (released by tilling and soil degradation and burning fossil fuels and plants/trees) causing global temperatures to rise. The fix is simple: Mimic nature, cover the soil andunderstand how soil is intended to function. Kiss the Ground is a full-length documentary narrated by Woody Harrelson that sheds light on an "new, old approach" to farming called " regenerative agriculture " that has the potential to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. 2021 Plant Based News is a UK-based digital media outlet publishing content about veganism and plant-based living, including news and current events, health, personal transformation stories, features, and recipes. In the past, I did not like how certain environmental groups portrayed farmers. Anyway, I can go on and on doing a review of the shortcoming of this review, but the author is obviously more interested in justifying the supposed superiority of his food religion than he is in actual peer reviewed range, soil or atmospheric science by people who actually understand agricultural systems. It does include grazing planning and management, but also many other things. Not to mention, I got a chuckle out of Bundchen calling Earth, Big Mama.. GHG Mitigation Potential of Different Grazing Strategies in the United States Southern Great Plains. Its within this context, that it becomes so vividly apparent, that in this conversation we are not just talking about planetary health, but at its core, human health. Regenerate America is an unprecedented coalition of farmers, businesses, nonprofits, and individuals from every corner of our country and all political stripes, convened by the national soil health 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization, Kiss the Ground. This is bio sequestration using plants to capture and store carbon. . Farm work is unglamorous, underappreciated, and not very well-paid for the most part, but it just so happens to be crucial to the survival of our species. Despite the documentary not spelling it out, its very clear. I was interested in clicking through at there are many types of regenerative agriculture that do not involve animals for more information, but that currently just links back to this article. A major strategy deployed in the documentary is offering two distinct choices for where consumers should source their food: conventional chemical-filled monocrops, or lush open fields of regenerative agriculture. One can only presume that the slaughtering of the animal is not about soil quality, but about profits. Hopefully, this movie will help open many more. . Factory farms are good at one thing producing a lot of meat in a short period of time to feed a growing appetite for meat. But what good is hope if its false? Regenerative agriculture describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity - resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle. In short:- If you act with maturity and consideration for other users, you should Ray: As they say, He who has the gold makes the rules, so there was a lot of pressure to have Josh, the director, slant this movie towards veganism, messaging cows are bad, eat less meat, carbon footprint, and organic farming will save the world, kind of stuff. In fact, it was the single most important thing that lead Savory to question the science regarding overgrazing. All of us make critical decisions every day as we manage our lives and we dont consult the literature when making those decisions. With no plants to transpire and create the water vapour which condenses to rain, local rainfall also fails, turning the area to desert. This gets the nutrients back into local farmlands, and helps reduce the impacts of droughts and the need for fertilisers, which are polluting your local rivers. Ray: I met the Kiss the Ground group in 2015. The movie didn't even include an indictment of current US politics or President Trump, which is notable by its absence considering the film was released so close to election time. In fact, the documentary claims that greenhouse gases are sequestered (stored/drawn down) in grazing herds, due to the generation of healthy soils, but released in feed lots where the animals are not a part of the natural cycle. (2015). They agreed and heres what they told me, How and why did you become involved the movie, Kiss the Ground?. As an employee of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, he travels around the country educating farmers on more sustainable farming practices. There are three main points I want to make about holistic grazing that are important for you to understand. Early farming was small scale, so diversity was ensured, and combined the animals with plants, so the manures could be used as fertiliser, and crops grown on the land could feed the livestock. If we look at where many of the 20 or so great civilisations have been, many are now desert Could this be our future if we carry on down this path? Regenerated healthy soil greatly increases the carrying capacity of land, so the amount of land needed for regen grazing isnt an issue. They are both such impactful leaders in this movement because they are called to bring these concepts to farmers and ranchers everywhere. (Source: Kiss the Ground). These animals then emit greenhouse gases. Rousing speeches have their place in communicating the gravity of the situation to the public, funders, and policymakers, but its not a framing that suggests concrete action, or even a plan. This carbon is then absorbed by plants, which use it in their cells and leak into the soils in the form of sugars. Kris: Yes. Support regenerative farming movements like Regeneration International Donate Regeneration International | Organic Consumers (netdonor.net) and Kiss the Ground Kiss the Ground (ktgcommunity.com) which are spreading the word. Unfortunately, there are still very few about, especially in the UK. Celebrity activists, including Ian Somerhalder and Patricia Arquette, drop by to promote a suite of carbon-capture climate change solutions theyre personally involved in, from diversified permaculture to compost toilets. A Facebook video shows aerial footage of what appears to be large fissures or cracks in the Earth . Clearly this is something that needs our urgent attention and resolution! Take the Inflammation quiz - what's your level? Their technical expertise should be enough to convince us that their message is not only correct but worth listening to. There are no simple solutions to complex problems. The French Minister for agriculture proposed a 4 in 1000 plan, to increase the organic content of our soils by 0.4% per year. As prices go up, pending one spends the same budget they had previously set aside for meat, their consumption naturally falls. Kiss the Ground has the perfect documentary mix of celebrity activists and wise elder scientists. But I also experienced the same misleadingparadigms from the conservative groups like Farm Bureau and other commodities groups. Kiss the Ground is a new, feature-length movie that explores key soil health and regenerative agricultural principles, and features interviews with a wide range of authors, experts, farmers, researchers and scientists. Please check your entries and try again. The message gets across, but the film downplays a meaningful call to action. After all, its communities of color, low-income communities, and immigrant communities who do the majority of the essential work of growing food and yet are most exploited and harmed by the agroindustrial complex. Just consider the thousands of peer reviewed papers advocating this diet or that diet and the people in the US are still among the most malnourished in the developed world. In many ways, this stands to do more harm than good. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Its predicted that, if we can scale up some of these farming methods over the next 30 years, we can REVERSE global warming. But the agreement is that all of the richest grasslands in the world have large grazing animals. Or this breakdown of the many myths he perpetuates inThe International Journal ofBiodiversity. Scientists and researchers in the documentary back them up. The natural carbon cycle involves carbon release by animals consuming plant and other organic materials and releasing the carbon as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If you are wondering whether its worth your time to watch, or want to know the gist but dont have an hour and a half to spare, read on and Ill cover the key points simply and factually for you. . The filmmakers were able to discuss organic and regenerative agriculture, livestock production and veganism, and climate change in a manner that made no individuals or groups either heroes or villains but rather made the soil the hero which is the appropriate focus in my opinion. BookstoreBook submissionsNewsNewsletter signupRecipesGardening, Our storyGet involvedJobs/FellowshipPartnersContact usPrivacy Shipping & return policy. There are over 200 peer reviewed papers that tie/correlate the increase of these chemicals with increases in ADD, child cancers and birth defects. You can make change and make a difference, even if you have struggled in the past to make change and feel like a failure. Still, its hard to ignore that the filmmakers featured almost exclusively rich, white American celebrities in a film about global systems change released in the middle of a national reckoning about our ability to be a diverse and equitable society. So its incredibly facile. Over the years, tilling causes the soil to dirt, leaving it vulnerable to erosion and desertification. Gabe: No, but only because I am on to the next project, bringing society together in supporting regenerative ag. This is how the natural carbon cycle should work. Lots of problems with Poores paper as well which didnt account for soil carbon or regenerative systems in any of its meta-analysis of averaged LCAs. 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In fact, in theDrawdown Report,when you factor in the land that would be freed up if the entire world shifted to a plant-rich diet, this becomes the single biggest lever that each of us can pull to lower our individual environmental footprint. This is because there is a legacy load of carbon in the atmosphere an amount of carbon dioxide that will persist for decades, if not centuries. You can see all of thisherefor yourself. What do you hope viewers will take away from the movie? Parents need to know that Kiss the Ground is a 2020 documentary that addresses our current soil erosion crisis throughout the planet and the benefits of practicing "regenerative agriculture." Narrated by Woody Harrelson, the documentary features extensive interviews with farmers, scientists, activists, celebrities, and regular people as they help to create awareness of regenerative . You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. (PLEASE VOTE November 3rd or earlier!! I do feel bad for the farmers trapped in the cycle though. Directors Joshua Tickell Rebecca Harrell Tickell Writers Johnny O'Hara Joshua Tickell Rebecca Harrell Tickell Stars Using livestock is thought to make this process 7 times faster! We have now decoupled these so farmers are either crop or livestock, and each are done on an intensive scale, with no natural cycles in place. | Plant Based News Ltd, PO Box 71173, London, SE20 9DQ, United Kingdom. Local water cycles produce 40% of our rainfall. It is a strategic use of fame and visibility, and the filmmakers and stars are clearly aware of the cultural impact of their appearances in the film. They correctly state that Bison would pass through land and not be seen for around a year. Dont get me wrong. The good news is that soils can recover fast if they are allowed to and managed correctly. Data from almost40,000 farms, and 119 countries, clearly shows us that a plant-based diet results in less greenhouse gas emissions, less pollution, less ocean acidification, and uses less water and land land which we can therefore free up and convert to forests to rapidly sequester carbon from our atmosphere. 94 views, 12 likes, 2 loves, 3 comments, 1 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Escuela Esmaca: Mitos y realidades sobre las algas Ms informacin sobre. Kris: No, but I am working on creating a virtual party with friends and family as we are scattered throughout the U.S. Ray: I will have a few people over. Talking about the importance of beingbetter stewards of our land, and why we must do a better job at protecting our natural resources and ecosystems, is absolutely crucial if our species is to not just thrive on Planet Earth, but survive. The Lhos plateau in China, an area larger than Belgium, had become a dusty wasteland after over farming. Many farms are barely making a profit and are heavily subsidised by tax payers, if they can be taught to grow food this way, they may see a rise in profits and governments can cease the massive subsidies and use these funds elsewhere! Im not saying the filmmakers should have gotten a token Black person, but they couldnt have gone wrong centering the voices of people for whom the stakes of not reversing climate change are much higher than their own. The animals themselves arent the problem, where and how is the issue. Commercial meat farming has one of the highest negative impacts. As a side note, the documentary routinely employed uses numerous fear-mongering tactics to scare the viewer into grasping for whatever solution comes next. Neither does the author. However, after spending time with the Kiss the Ground team particularly in Paris, I understood howpassionate the filmmakers are about the soil solution. kiss the ground fact checking 3 Unclear about how the proposed solutions would affect our diets. Get our weekly editors newsletter & special offers delivered right to your inbox! Farmers need to learn how to regenerate and take care of the soil. Seven years in the making, the movies thesis proposes that by regenerating the worlds soils, humans can rapidly stabilize Earths climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. So sadly neither does the author of this review. Ganrett also doesnt have a clue how tropospheric hydroxyl oxidation works. On-the-ground agricultural practices carried out by millions of individual farmers directly affect the health of the soil, and by extension, global atmospheric carbon levels and the pace of climate change. Heres my critique of that paper: https://lachefnet.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/its-the-soil-biology-stupid/ This paper includes a number of these soil science papers. But the #1 US crop is GMO corn, sprayed with Glyphosate, which is now found in their drinking water and kills the microbes in our guts. For a great deal of land, there are other, more evidence-based ways to sequester carbon. As long as its grass-fed. Whats glaringly clear from Hawkens report is that when it comes to our food and greenhouse gas emissions, thetwo areas we can make the biggest impactare reducing food waste (number one solution)and moving to a plant-rich diet (number three solution). Healthy soils can store more carbon than all the trees combined! A prime example of this is their claim that there is only 60 years of farming left. Tilling loosens the soil, disturbing microorganisms that live within it, drying it out so. Firstly, just so we are clear, the majority of the worlds mono-crops are fed to livestock. poet charles mackay biography This process of soil destruction is detrimental to agriculture. Practically speaking this looks like the plate below perhaps this could be The Regenerative Plate that Kiss the Ground adopts in their communication going forwards.